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Noncontractual photograph
Label Slightly damaged
Level Top-shoulder ( - )
Vintage | Wine 1973 |
Classification | Médoc - 1er Cru Classé |
Region | Bordeaux |
Appellation | Pauillac |
Colour | Red |
Volume | 0.75 l |
Country | France |
Château | Château Latour |
Country | France |
The Château Latour is a french estate. It is ranked Premier Cru Classé in the Official Classification created in 1855.
There are 2 other Châteaux in the Pauillac appellation which also benefit from the prestigious title of 1er Cru Classé: Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild.
Created around 1680, Château Latour's vineyard is one of the oldest in the Médoc. At the heart of the estate, the main parcel, called "l'Enclos", is made up of 47 hectares of old vines that are preciously maintained, because only they are able to give birth to the "Grand Vin". The 18 hectares of exterior plots, the vines less than 10 years old and the possibly downgraded cuvées produce the second wine of the estate, "Les Forts de Latour". The wine of Château Latour is an example of regularity regardless of the quality of the vintage. Firm, tannic and concentrated in its youth ...
Latour is the epitome of excellence in good years and bad ones. Among the greatest vintages, the most beautiful achievements of the chateau: 1920, 1929, 1949, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1970, 1982, 1990, 2000.
>> Read more on the article "Latour, Premier Cru Classé in 1855"
>> See all the crus classés of Médoc classification
Margaux
Givry
Margaux
Saint Emilion
Pauillac
Champagne
(12-1997) As luck would have it, I tasted this wine during a recent dinner. After Sociando-Mallet 90, Fieuzal 88, La Conseillante 88, we needed something else for the after cheese and our insatiable curiosity. The originality of the style, the blend that only age brings and the astonishment created by a vintage that we no longer speak of have delighted us. We must never forget the extraordinary longevity of Latour wines, including vintages deemed average. Color. Dark red, good intensity for the year, slight evolution. Nose. Clean, intense. Mocha, cedar, blackcurrant, smoked. Restlessness. Quite powerful. Soft and suave attack developing on a round and very tasty structure, with a slightly relaxed but very aromatic, fresh, spicy texture. Melted tanicity. Final evoking cream, metal, spices and blackcurrant. Drinks wonderfully well. His youth amazes.
(04-2013) Served from ex-chateau magnum at the Academie du Vin dinner, the Latour ’73 must surely be one of the wines of the vintage, which is not saying a lot considering it was one of the worst growing seasons ever. Deep in colour, the nose is closed at first and then opens to reveal a curious but not dislikeable scent of kidney beans and melted tar. The palate is medium-bodied with chunky but not brutish tannins. Yet it is unapologetically masculine but uncharacteristically bucolic. There is decent freshness here – an enjoyable off-vintage First Growth that made good “old bones”.
(03-2009)
(01-2012) We were a bit afraid before uncorking such a bottle. This wine is almost 40 years old and is from a very bad year : 1973. A wine with many red flags, however... The colour is beautiful. The nose also. Not exuberant but fine. No trace of oxydation nor of "old cellar". The mouth is interesting, acidity dominating a bit, the tannins are well integrated. Less lean than expected. This wine is soft, mature and charming.